Andre Ward vs. Sullivan Barrera: Winner, Scorecard and Reaction

Andre "S.O.G." Ward (29-0) returned to the ring in dominant fashion Saturday. For 12 rounds, he boxed circles around Sullivan Barrera (17-1) en route to a unanimous-decision victory in his hometown of Oakland, California.

ESPN.com's Dan Rafael shared the official scorecards:

Injuries and legal battles have limited Ward to just four fights since the beginning of 2012. He looked sharper in Saturday's bout than he did in his last fight against Paul Smith last June. Ward stopped Smith, while Barrera went the distance. Chalk that up to Barrera simply being a better fighter than Smith.

The 34-year-old Cuban gave a solid effort, but he was befuddled by Ward's hand speed, elusiveness and overall boxing acumen. CompuBox's punch stats illustrated Ward's superiority:

True boxing fans can't help but appreciate in-ring artistry. Ward's work in the ring had members of the boxing community lamenting his prolonged absences. Yahoo Sports' Chris Mannix chimed in:

Ward's jab and left hook were working in tandem like a versatile soul-singing duo. The jab was like a ballad, and the hook brought the funk to spice things up. In the third round, one of those funky hooks caught Barrera on the top of his head and put him down.

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The punch took Barrera's equilibrium more than it hurt him, but it was a clean shot nonetheless.

The third through eighth rounds were carbon copies. Ward eluded Barrera's advances and made the Cuban pay with quick, well-placed counterpunches.

The only bump in the road for Ward came in the ninth round, when referee Raul Caiz Sr. penalized him a point for a low blow. There was no question the punch caught Barrera below the belt, but Caiz's trigger was quick.

Ultimately, it was inconsequential as Ward cruised to the victory.

During HBO's post-fight interview, Ward gave his performance a B-minus. He felt that if he had been sharper, he could have stopped Barrera. As he was, Ward did nothing to hurt the buildup toward a clash with lineal light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.

The Russian wrecking machine was on hand for the bout. During the broadcast, HBO's Max Kellerman called that potential fight the best possible bout that could be made in the sport. You might get some arguments from fans of a Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez scrap, or perhaps even a Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter fight.

Still, there's no disputing almost every boxing fan would love to see Ward and Kovalev collide. Per Barrera's promoter, Kathy Duva (via Dan Ambrose of BoxingNews24.com), Ward wants to have one more fight before he faces Kovalev.

It's unclear when that bout would take place or who it might be against, but expect the attention and the bar to be raised for the final Kovalev tuneup.

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